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University lecturers are fuelling an ideological “monoculture” in British universities, the higher education minister has warned.

Sam Gyimah told of his concern that certain views - ranging from identity politics to Brexit - have become “unacceptable” at universities simply because they are not “on trend”. It is not just students who are contributing to this but the entire “campus community”, he said.

Speaking to vice-Chancellors at the Universities UK (UUK) annual conference in Sheffield, he said that institutions must not be seen as “ideological echo chambers”.

“Our best universities are not ivory towers. Still less are they ‘left-wing madrassas’, as one controversialist chose to describe them,” he said.

“But ideological diversity, strong research cultures, engagement with the wider world, and fair access are ongoing battles – and the price of failure will be very high.”

Mr Gyimah said that he has spent months touring British universities and noticed that a “big issue” is the emergence of a “monoculture” where “certain ideas are just ruled out as unacceptable in our current debate”.

Our best universities are not ivory towers. Still less are they ‘left-wing madrassas’, as one controversialist chose to describe themUniversities minister Sam Gyimah

He went on: “We all know that there are certain ideas that if you hold at a university campus are not acceptable. They are not acceptable because they are wrong , they are not acceptable because they are against the law - they are not acceptable because they are not on trend.”

During debates around identity politics, race and gender, he said that it appears “only one set of views are allowed” and opposing views are stifled.

Terf, which stands for Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminists, is generally used as a derogatory term to describe those who believe that “identifying” as a woman is not the same as being born a woman.

It can also be used to refer to people who are deemed to hold “transphobic” views. Any events which involve collaborating with groups that hold Terf views could now be barred from taking place on Bristol university grounds, according to the motion which students passed in March.

He said that another example of a university monoculture is in discussion about Brexit, where pro-Remainer views dominate.

A separate issue hindering “diversity of thought” on campus is the propensity of students to “gratuitously” take offence to view that differ from their own.

Mr Gyimah also used his speech to vice-Chancellors to say that the Government must “think seriously” about its policies towards international students, when considering the role of universities in a post-Brexit Britain.

“If we want a university system that is global and competitive, then we should be looking to a more open approach to international students,” he said, adding that there should be a more “open approach” to it.

Earlier this week, Universities UK urged the government to reintroduce a visa that would allow overseas students to stay in the country to work for up to two years after graduation. Ministers abandoned the post-study visa in 2012, as part of a crackdown on visa overstayers, led by the then home secretary, Theresa May, amid concern that post-study work visas were a back door to immigration.

The Migration Advisory Committee is due to publish a report on student migration in the coming weeks, which Mr Gyimah said is an “opportunity” to review policies.